


The Avaricious

by causticash



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Character Study, Ed is also trans in all my HCs but he's not really in this, Emperor Ling Yao, F/M, I'll also probably write a fic about Lan Fan and Ling raising 50 children lmao, I'll probably write a prequel to talk about greed & ling's relationship before, It's only mentioned once but it's there, Post-Canon, Trans Ling Yao, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26344267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/causticash/pseuds/causticash
Summary: There are moments when Ling isn't sure Greed is gone.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Ling Yao, Greed & Ling Yao, Greed (Ling) & Ling Yao, Lan Fan/Ling Yao
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	The Avaricious

There are moments when Ling isn't sure Greed is gone. At first, they were frequent but weak, and he was sure it was just his own desire. May called him greedy, for wanting to save the Changs and every clan, and he almost felt that voice inside him chuckle. 

When they arrive back in Xing, when he gets everything he wants and fights for more, when he becomes the young emperor-- well. It's in his royal title, now. Emperor Ling Yao, the Avaricious. The courtiers were concerned when he chose that name for himself. They would have said it was unbecoming for a ruler, but the look in his eyes in those days tended to keep their mouths shut.

When he fought for all the clans, when he pushed for imperial funding of alkahestry, when he argued against the previous heir system-- he felt that unending desire within him, that bottomless hole. But he would speak to counselors, send letters and phone calls across the desert to his Amestrian friends and allies, and the feeling would seem to disappear.

As time went on, though, it became less moments and more a constant presence, like another soul was once again within his body. One that ached for more, whispered for domination. One that felt glee at his acclaim, his wealth, his success, and his friendships. 

May still poked fun at him, called him greedy whenever he was wanting. Lan Fan acted as though Greed had never existed at first, though she would look at him curiously sometimes, as if waiting for the plum to come back to his eyes, the Ultimate Shield to creep across his skin. No one else seemed to sense the presence of a Homunculus within him, so he supposed it must me something else raising her suspicions. 

When they buried Fu, he felt pain like memories burning within him, visions not his own, voices calling to him that he did not recognize. It seemed Greed's own grief had left something like a brand within him, a reminder that the desire to protect was something to be coveted. But it faded eventually. 

After the excitement of the war, of his coronation, of Al's visit and research into alkahestry a few years later, he found himself growing restless. His insistence, his desire for more equality amongst the clans had been met with grumbling and near-outright hostility, but a spirit of community and the knowledge that the emperor's will would not be bent led to more cooperation, especially as he brought Amestrian trade and knowledge with his rule. The country flourished, and he grew bored. Wanting.

He may beside Lan Fan one night, hand resting in her automail as she dosed. For a moment, in the flickering of the candle light, he thought he saw a tattoo on the back of his hand. 

The sharpness of his desire grew more and more. He did not want for power, or money, or women, or even friendship. He was the emperor of a great nation, he had the love of his closest confidant and protector, and a growing group of companions from both his own country as well as others. He even had a way to avoid the chaos and conflict of the previous emperor's heir selection-- rather than bear children with a woman from each clan, an impossibly complicated matter with his anatomy and his single-minded love for Lan Fan, he had declared that an orphan from each clan would be the contenders for his throne, and would all grow up in the palace together. He still wasn't sure how he would choose an heir, but that was a matter for long in the future. He and Lan Fan had an enormous swath of children to care for, a want fulfilled in him that he hadn't known he'd desired, and something within him curled with satisfaction despite the bottomless pit he still carried. 

Ling had no desire to swallow God, or find the Truth, or take over the whole world. He had no desire for war, had seen his fair share, no desire to destroy souls for his own power. The philosopher's stone he had brought to Xing with him had failed to preserve his father's life, but his efforts had still won him the throne. But he still felt himself drawn to the idea of these horrible creations. He had destroyed the one he had brought the very day his father had died, poured the souls into the earth with the hopes of giving them some peace. 

He pulled Al aside for discussions of his research, talked to Dr. Marcoh at length about how alkahestry could affect the process, and both looked at him with some understanding as well as pity. 

A voice echoed from within him, in tune with his own prideful response. He had no need for these alchemists' pity. He wanted to know more about creating Homunculi from man's sin, but despite his desire he would not stoop to the kinds of murder and destruction that creature had used for himself. 

It took several more years, Al's knowledge having grown beyond the limits of his own country along with Xing. He and May travelled across the east together, compiling Ed's work in the west, becoming some of the foremost experts in alchemy and its related fields. The three of them required Dr. Marcoh and Scar's help to assemble this knowledge and publish it into several long tomes. Ling had never been a particularly scholarly man himself, but he consumed their research like a starving man scarfs down food he didn't pay for, making calls to Pinako Rockbell to discuss the fragments of Hohenheim's research she had preserved. 

After a decade, he and Lan Fan had their hoard of children, Xing was more prosperous than ever, and Ling had a comfortable sense of avarice within him at all times, another sense like his ability to feel the Dragon's Pulse. In councils and trade meetings, he knew when to push for more, when to be greedy, and his friends, Lan Fan, and May helped temper when this sense wanted too much. Lan Fan no longer looked at these moments with suspicion-- even she understood now that this was a part of Ling, like a new organ had been grafted into him. 

Years of research had led Ling to the conclusion that the method if isolating sins like the Dwarf in the Flask Homunculus had was, for him, impossible. Even aside from his own lack of alchemical or alkahestral talent, no matter what, the process involved the use of others' souls. The war in Central meant this was an impossibility politically, along with Ling's own qualms about that method. There was no way to truly return Greed. Even if a nonlethal, ethical process could be found, Hohenheim was long gone along with the Dwarf in the Flask, and Ling was confident even the Elric brothers' blood would not be enough to truly recreate Greed. 

Yet Ling felt satisfied in a way. He felt that deep desire, that push for more, an unending avarice, that need to get whatever he wanted and more. That presences and the way his voice came out ever so much more charming and cocky, with a slight Amestrian accent, told him that Greed's presence lingered even if it was entirely below the surface. Never again would Greed snarl and insist on taking over Ling's body, never again would he complain that Ling had taken over without asking. But. 

He wants and wants and wants. It's not difficult to get what he wants. He has the companionship Greed truly desired. He has as much wealth and knowledge he could ever want. He has the power of an entire country, the allyship of surrounding nations, and a wonderful, enormous family. His desired help fuel jinx remind him why he wanted to be Emperor, why he made the choices he did. 

Once, after the war and becoming Emperor and everything settling, he went back to Amestris to track down names. He knew if their faces, but want quite sure who they'd been. So he went, and he listened to stories, swallowed them greedily. Old family members, fellow soldiers, doctors, random citizens in the street. All told him about Road, Video, Martel, Dolcetto, Ulchi-- these loyal, witty, companionable people. His friends, in a way. The stories filled him up, went into that bottomless hole within him. He still felt wanting, still desired the post and influence he held, still loved and coveted his friendships. Avarice is not so easily fulfilled. But there was a feeling of satisfaction in his gut, of another voice within him murmuring happily, a head nodding agreeably to his actions. He was whole.

**Author's Note:**

> LinGreed/Greelin/whatever you want to call them is truly one of my favorite dynamics in FMAB, and that final scene kills me every time. I just think that having something like Greed within you would leave some lasting effects.
> 
> Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!


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